Rebuilding a Blériot
Today in Aviation :: April 05, 2013
The challenges of rebuilding an early era aircraft are extraordinary. The few that remain in flying condition today are rarely flown at all. Some builders have built "new" copies of the older planes based on the original plans. Even then, there are challenges — for instance, where does one find a ready-to-fly Anzani three cylinder engine from 1911? The late Cole Palin of Rheinbeck used to collect old airplane engines both at his New York hangar and at his winter hangar at the airport of Boca Raton, Florida. If he found a servicable Hispano-Suiza 8 BEc, water cooled V-8, 235 hp engine, then he would store it until he was ready to build a SPAD S XIII around the engine, as but one example. Today, another famous builder resides in Sweden, creating new "old" aeroplanes in much the same way — his name is Mikhael Karlsson and, among the many planes he has built is a Blériot.
Today's feature highlights a fascinating rebuild of a Blériot monoplane that was flown by none other than Mr. Vivian Hewitt of Great Britain. His experience of rebuilding the plane is particularly interesting for one reason — the rebuild itself was accomplished not today, but exactly 100 years ago by Mr. Hewitt himself.
Photo of the Day
Rebuilding a Curtiss P-6E Hawk in 1963 at the Purdue University Department of Aviation Technology. The Hawk flew for the US Army Air Corps from the 1920s until the late 1930s, only being withdrawn as obsolete just prior to the beginning of World War II.
Photo Credit: USAF Museum
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